| For Immediate Release May 5th, 2004 |
Contact: | Mark Macaulay Spokesperson Orange County District Attorney (714) 347-8405 (O) (714) 323-4486 (C) |
STATE TAX EVASION CHARGES FILED AGAINST AN ORANGE COUNTY BUSINESSWOMAN FOR FAILING TO REPORT MORE THAN $17 MILLION OF TAXABLE WAGES
Santa Ana – Evell Tara Stanley, 62, of San Juan Capistrano, was indicted today on ten (10) felony counts of state tax evasion and one count of worker’s compensation fraud. The indictment is the result of a joint investigation headed by the Orange County District Attorney’s office with the assistance of the California Franchise Tax Board, the Employment Development Department and the Department of Insurance. If convicted on all charges Stanley faces more than twenty (20) years in state prison.
Ms. Stanley is the owner and operator of Orange Courier in Santa Ana. Between January 1998 and December 2002, the company’s total taxable payroll was $29 million. Stanley, however, is accused of only reporting $11 million in payroll to the Employment Development Department and fraudulently failing to report the remaining seventeen $17 million in wages as exempt. To hide this fraud, Stanley is accused of filing fraudulent corporate tax returns with the Franchise Tax Board, while also under-reporting payroll and employee job classifications to her worker’s compensation insurance carrier (Zenith Insurance Company). Each fraudulent act cost her victims millions of dollars. As a result, some of her former employees may be left responsible for back taxes.
Stanley is accused of defrauding the Employment Development Department out of $3.4 million including penalties and interest. The Franchise Tax Board estimates a loss of more than $3.1 million including penalties and interest and Zenith Insurance Company estimates a loss of almost $1 million in premiums.
Deputy District Attorney Rick Welsh has been assigned to prosecute the case. Evell Stanley is set to be arraigned Friday, May 14, 2004 at 9:30 am, in C5, Central Justice Center, 700 Civic Center Drive West, Santa Ana, CA.